Public Servants and Social Media – Can You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?

Public service and how elected officials communicate with the public has changed dramatically over the years. Take social media for example: how can you truly represent your constituents unless you can “talk the talk?”

There are also many different types of people that make up “the public.” Constituents and voters are not the same thing. I would say there are closer to four categories of people an elected person listens to in different ways: constituents, registered voters, frequent voters and activists.

A constituent is someone that an elected person represents whether they are a registered voter or not. Many times these folks are the least aware of the political process but need assistance solving their problems, both short-term and long-term. I don’t know why these people are not registered to vote, as I consider it everyone’s bare minimum civic duty.

A registered voter is someone who may vote only in presidential elections, and who is generally aware of what is going on but maybe has a tendency to listen to national media more than local issues. These voters are at least registered, but do not necessarily participate in elections that require researching the ballot before they show up at the polls.

Frequent voters are the die-hards who vote in every election, whether it is April, August or November, or anytime in between. These people tend to be more partisan, vote the party-line and know what is going on, since the August elections typically require choosing a Democratic or a Republican ballot.

Activists are those who are passionate about a particular issue, and typically vote according to one’s position on that issue alone. It is easiest to communicate with advocates, as long as the elected person is on the same side of the issue.

How do you communicate with all of these people at the same time? Social media is still at the stage where the majority of users are younger than 40 years old. Young people, on average, are not frequent voters, and tend not to be registered to vote at all.

So while social media is useful and a growing communication outlet, I do not think it is 100 percent reliable in getting people to vote. Facebook and blast emails, however, can be used effectively for fundraising, re-connecting with old acquaintances and spreading political event information. Social media also provides a forum for people to post their political views, follow the latest political scandal, or compare their state with other states.

There are still many ways that social media will be able to bring elected officials closer to those they serve. Perhaps the sharing of more information will increase the numbers of voters overall. My hope is that it does.